Forever Hungry
by domina tempore
Summary: She didn't know who she was or where she came from; all she knew was hunger. Sequel to "Forever Running". ON HIATUS.
1. Hungry

_Author's Note: This is a sequel to "Forever Running"; and even though it's very different, I PROMISE that I have a good reason for calling it that :D And at one point I had it completely written; but I hated the end of that one, so I'm re-writing the second half of this to make it go where I want it to; please bear with me. Thanks!_

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**Prologue**

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She didn't know who she was or where she came from. She didn't know why she'd been left hurt and alone on this cold, unforgiving world. She was tired and wet and bruised and cold... and hunrgy. Her hunger burned like a fire in her belly, driving her to get up and move towards the stargate. Stargate. That was something that she did know. It was a big, silver ring that glowed blue. It took you to other places, other worlds were there was food. She needed to get to the stargate.

She crawled painfully to her feet and stumbled through the trees, looking for that great metal ring that would tower over her, far above her; the hight of many men. The ring that would transport her to another world where there was food and peace, where she could heal. Once she'd satisfied her hunger, that pain in her middle would stop, and she could search for her world and who she was; and who had done this to her.

Finally she found the Stargate; and as she dialed a vague sensation clouded her mind for a minute, and she shivered. Like everything else she didn't understand it; but she knew that whatever had caused that sensation was bad. Maybe it was part of what had made her like this. But whatever it was, she knew it was to be fearsed... and hated.

She didn't know how she knew the address, but she did; and when the watery blue circle appeared se stepped through without hestiation, her hunger taking her beyond the point of doubt. Once on the other side she felt a new sensation, a better one. She followed that, hoping it would lead her to help... and food.

Eventually, she came to a village, but by then she was exhausted. She called out weakly for help, then fainted. Some of the villagers came out to see what was wrong, and they gasped when they saw her.

"We have to kill it," one said. "Before it kills us!"

"We can't do that; she's hurt," another said.

"Do you want to bring death on our village?" the first voice demanded. The woman who he'd spoken to examined their unconscious guest's hands, saying as she did,

"If she had come to destroy us, then she would have brought an army. As it is I can prove to you that she will do us no harm."

"How?" the man's voice asked, both haughty and curious. The woman showed him the hands of the being lying helpless on the groung before them. He frowned, but after a minute he sighed.

"Fine," he mumbled; and they took her inside.


	2. Banht

**Chapter One**

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"I still don't see why we have to come here," Rodney complained to SHeppard, who rolled his eyes. "I mean, this really is a gross _waste_ of my talents; and you're hardly the best or most focused trader..."

"Well Teyla is off-world trading, and Elizabeth has Ronon working his butt off on New Terinus. And the Emerons specifically ask for our team all the time; so that leaves just me and you."

"Exactly! They ask for us_ all the time_; why does Elizabeth suddenly decide to cave now?"

"Probably because it's just us," he explained painstakingly. "We're not a full team; so she can't risk sending just the two of us anyplace really dangerous. But the Emerons are not dangerous; and the Emerons do have a generator that'd been acting up. Thus, you come."

"She could have sent another less important scientist! I am the city's chief of science, for crying out loud! This is such a misuse of my obviously belittled skills..."

"Rodney!"

"What?!"

"Shut up." Before the disgruntled man could protest, they heard footsteps coming towards them; and one of the villagers appeared out of the trees.

"Welcome," he said, bowing in the tradition of that particular world. Sheppard and McKay awkwardly returned it. "We've been expecting you."

"It's no trouble," Sheppard said pleasantly. "We're always ready to help out a friend."

"Actually,we asked you here for a very specific reason. We would like to ask for your advice on a rather... pressing matter." they hid their surprise.

"Okay. Is something wrong?"

"We are not sure; that is why Baka wants your advice."

"Really?" McKay questioned. "Baka?" Baka was the head of the village; their team had helped him become a leader. Rodney turned to SHeppard.

"If I'd known that it was Baka who wanted us I would have been here ages ago." Baka and Rodney had become unlikely friends when they'd met; Baka seemed to understand the scientist, even when he was going on in his indistinguishable techno-babble.

John shot Rodney a quick glare. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that the situation demanded it. He'd think of a reason.

"Lead the way," he said to the messenger with false patience. The man walked with them the rest of the way to the village.

"Ah, Rodney!" Baka's voice rang out as he came out of the council chamber. "It's good to see you again." he limped over to them, as if an old wound plauged him.

"It's good to see you too," he answered, looking the man over. He seemed to have aged since they'd last been there. Maybe he was sick.

"How are you?" McKay asked. Baka laughed good-naturedly.

"I've seen younger days," he rumbled, patting McKay's shoulder. "I think that the years are finally catching up with me, my friend. It probably won't be very many more before I am laid to rest."

"I'm sure that's not true..." Rodney began.

"It's alright, my friend. Everything has it's time; eventually all will have their time to die."

"Yeah, but not yet..." John rolled his eyes, finding the whole exchange frustrating and depressing. Baka noticed him.

"Colonel Sheppard, welcome back to Emeron. I see that Dr. Weir has finally convinced you two to answer my summons."

"How long have you wanted us?" Sheppard asked, suddenly realizing that he had no idea how long this "urgent" matter of theirs had been going on.

"She's only been here about a week," Baka said. "And in the beginning, she was too hurt to do anything; and she doesn't act dangerous or threatening. But we still thought it best that you come."

"I'm sorry, who is this that we're talking about?" McKay asked unable to keep some irrtability out of his voice.

"We call her Banht," Baka said. "It was my nephew who found her, actually; and one of our guards, They found her and brought her back, they didn't want to kill her without reason. Come, I'll let you meet her." he led them towards the center of the cillage, still explaining.

"The children seem to have taken to her," he said. "So we always have her watched, just in case. But so far she has not been a problem. Her appearance may come as something of a surprise to you; but don't worry. She won't hurt you. At least, she hasn't hurt anyone else..." John and Rodney exchanged a worried glance. What kind of woman was Baka playing host to?

"Ah, here she is," he pointed to a mahogany haired women. She had her back to them, and was surrounded by a gaggle of children.

"Banht!" Baka called. "Banht! There are some friends here that I'd like to introduce you to." The woman stood up- she was taller than they'd expected- and turned around. McKay gasped. Sheppard's gun snapped up into position, sparking an expression of fear and confusion and hurt on Banht's face. Baka put his hand on Sheppard's gun and pushed the point down, away from Banht.

"Relax, Colonel. As I said, she's not dangerous."

"Not dangerous, do you know what she is?!"

"She's harmless-"

"She's a wraith!"

"No, Colonel, you do not understand," he removed John's hand from the gun and went to stand with Banht, who seemed too shocked to react. "I told you, Banht is not dangerous; and I can prove it. Show them your hands." The wraith turned her hands to them, palms up; and they could see that she had no feeders. But neither Sheppard or McKay bought it.

"Baka, can we talk to you for a minute?" Sheppard made little attempt to mask his displeasure. "Alone?"

"Yes, of course," he turned to Banht. "Go find Qadir; I told him not to wander off." Banht nodded, her eyes still confused. Baka took McKay and Sheppard back to the council house.

"Alright," Sheppard said angrily. "I'm only gonna ask this once, but I'll let you explain before I make any decisions. What is she doing here?"

"I probably should have explained a bit more before I took you to meet her," Baka said calmly. "But you had no right to threaten her like that."

"She's a wraith queen!" McKay burst out. "How can you not find that dangerous?"

"About a week ago my nephew found her, unconscious outside the village. When he saw what she was he was going to kill her, too; but Nali, one of our watchers, pointed out that she could not feed. And Banht was badly hurt."

"But she's still a wraith. Why take that chance?"

"She was helpless. And she has proven to be sweet and kind and innocent."

"Why?" Rodney asked. "Why would she choose to befriend _any _humans?"

"She doesn't even know that she's a wraith," Baka said. "She has no memory of anything before stepping through our stargate; she doesn't know what a wraith is."

"But she's a queen; I've seen 'em, I know them. No way she was any sort of normal wraith. You've gotta get rid of her." Baka cleared his throat.

"Actually, I wanted you to come here to help me find a way to help her."

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"...and you say she's a queen?" Elizabeth asked over the radio.

"Yeah, definately. I've seen enough to know."

"Is Baka telling the truth that she doesn't know what she is?"

"I don't know; I don't want to believe it, cause that means that we have to keep the wraith alive. But she didn't act very wraithlike. Maybe Baka is right."

"Then the question is why? Did her hive leave her there?"

"What, like, mutiny? Wouldn't it have been easier to just kill her?"

"Maybe they thought that they did," she suggested. "You said that Qadir and Nali found ehr hurt. But you know how quickly the wraith can heal; maybe she had just enough life left in her to start."

"Send Beckett over; he could probably tell you more than we could." he paused. "Are Ronon and Teyla back yet? I'd really feel more comfortable to with the two of them here."

"Ronon's over on New Terinus for another three days, and Teyla's gone at least that long. But who knows how much longer she'll be?" John sighed heavily.

"Alright, Sheppard out." As he waited for Beckett's arrival, he radioed McKay back at the village.

"How are things going there?" he asked. "Any problems?"

"No, none. I think Baka's trying to explain to Banht why you tried to shoot her before, without telling her that she's a wraith queen who probably used to be evil."

"Alright. Listen, Beckett's coming over in a minute so that he can check her out, make sure that all the innocence is for real and stuff."

"Is he bringing backup?"

"No. I'm starting to halfway believe that Banht is almost as harmless as Baka says."

"How can you think that?"

"Because if she was going to hurt anyone, then she would have done it the moment that she stepped through the gate; to regain her strength after she was hurt." At that moment, the gate whirred to life. "Look, I'll be back in a couple of minutes, we can figure it out then." he watched the wormhole form, fascinated even fater countless trips. "I've gotta go."

After the blue surface of the gate had shimmered for a moment, Beckett came through, followed by Elizabeth. John didn't bother to hide his surprise.

"I wanted to see her for myself," she explained.

"Are you sure?"

"Hey, I've had my own experiance with queens. I'll be fine." He shrugged.

"Okay." He led them to the village.

Once in the village they were met by McKay, who didn't expect Elizabeth either. She assured him, too, that she would be fine.

"Where is she?" Carson asked. McKay jerked his head.

"This way," he said, taking the lead. But he spoke with the air of one condemned. Elizabeth hid a grin.

"What?" he demanded.

"You're marching like you're being led off to your death." he frowned.

"Well how do you know I'm not?"

"Rodeny, relax," Carson advised. "From what I understand, this wtaith wouldn't dream of harming you. Do you trust me?"

"Yes," he admitted.

"Then stop being so pesemistic and try not to worry."

They met up with Banht and Baka. It was something of a shock, even for those who expected it, to see the tall, graceful queen standing beside old Baka, who was rather short and fat.

"Here they are," Baka said. "Colonel Sheppard was just coming to apologize for frightening you, weren't you, Colonel?" Sheppard sighed.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he said, making a mental note to talk to Baka later about putting words in his mouth like that.

Banht nodded once, then looked beyond him, the Elizabeth and Beckett.

"Who are they?" she asked. Her voice was definately wraith; but it lacked the power that the queens spoke with. Elizabeth, slightly reassured, stepped forward and introduced herself.

"My name is Elizabeth Weir," she said. "And this is Dr. Beckett. We're from the same world as John and Rodney; we brought Dr. Beckett here when Baka told use thatyou were injured."

"He is your healer?" she questioned. Elizabeth smiled and nodded.

"Yes, he's our healer." Beckett took over.

"I'd like to examine you, and make sure that you're completely healed. And maybe we can find out a bit of where you're from." he realized how nervous she was. "With your permission, of course." Banht nodded slowly.

"Of course," she whispered.

"Do you mind if I use the council chamber?" Beckett questioned. Baka nodded.

"Of course not. I'll buy Rodney and Colonel Sheppard a drink."

"That's really okay," John began, but Elizabeth cocked an eyebrown at him.

"John, it's fine, go. I'll call you if I need you." he opened his mouth to protest. "Go." he sighed in resignation.

"Yes ma'am." he and Rodney followed Baka in one direction, and Elizabeth and Carson went with Banht in another. John's shoulder brushed Banht's on accident, and she jumped like his body carried an electrical current.

It took Beckett several minutes to set up some of his equiptment, and during the while time Banht was silent, sitting tensely on the table that Carson had indicated.

"Alright, sorry about that, love. Now where were you hurt?"

"It felt like everywhere." he sighed.

"Alright, I'm going to scan your body, to be sure all of your injuries are completely healed."

"Okay." she didn't look too sure.

"If you don't want me to do someting, love, just tell me. I won't do anything that you're uncomfortable with."

"No, it's okay." he took out an ancient device and started to scan her. HSe was taking quick, shallow breaths, telling Carson that she was still nervous.

"It's alright," he assuresd her again, taking her cold hand in his. "You're fine." But he could feel her tight muscles under her skin. He stopped his scan for a minute.

"Is something troubling you, lass?" she closed her eyes, gathering her words in her ehad before she spoke any of them.

"There is something about all of you that feels wrong, bad; like something that I should remember. It's not nearly so strong on the two of you as it is on Colonel Sheppard and Rodney."

"What does it feel like?" Beckett questioned, starting a scan on her brain. Banht shifted a bit.

"It's like there's something rotten; like you'd feel when you smelled that. It's... hard to describe it better."

"You're doing just fine, love," he assured her. "Tell me who feels the strongest this way." she frowned a little.

"Colonel Sheppard."

"Alright, and the least?"

"You. And I felt it a bit someplace else, when I dialed to Emeron." Elizabeth looked up.

"You didn't wake up here?" Carson asked.

"No, it was another world." Banht paused,

"Do you two know something about me? Why I feel this way?"

"I'm sorry, no," Beckett said apologetically. "But I'll run a few tests to see what I can figure out." Banht nodded; and for a minute there was silence in the room. Then Banht turned to Elizabeth.

"There's something else that bothers me, too," she said.

"What's that?" Elizabeth's voice was gentle.

"When Colonel Sheppard first saw me, he called me a wraith. But the Emeron's told me about wraith. I'm not like that, evil. Am I?" Elizabeth touched Banht's hand ligtly, mentally shuddering as she considered this strange friendship between wraith queen and human.

"Of course not," she assured Banht. "You're very kind and sweet and gentle; you're not evil."

"I'm going to stay tonight," Beckett decided, his focus switching away from his work. "I'd like to talk to Qadir and Nali."

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McKay and Sheppard jumped to their feet when they saw Elizabeth and Beckett leave the council chamber. "I thought I told you two to get a drink with Baka," she accused. Sheppard shrugged innocently.

"We did, but he had some other things that he needed to do; so we've just been hanging here waitin' for you."

"Not spying on us?"

"No spying," he promised.

"Hey, can we get back on the more important topic?" McKay cut in. "What did you find out?"

"I won't know until I run a few tests," Carson explained. "Which is why I'm staying here tonight."

"Oh no you're not..." John began, but Elizabeth cut him off.

"Does she have any internal injuries?" she asked Beckett.

"No, she seems to have healed up quite nicely. But that's the problem." McKay frowned.

"How is that a problem for her?"

"From what I've been able to study about wraith regeneration, it happens at a steady rate so long as their level of nutrition is constant. But from what you told me about her, I assumed that the extent of her injuries would be much worse; but I'd say that she'd been healing for at least a few days more than they say."

"How do you figure that?"

"Because they're completely gone now; no trace. It would have taken her roughly six days to heal; but they said it only took her about three days."

"So what, she was lying about when she came or how long that she'd been here?"

"I find it more likely that Qadir and Nali hid her somewhere the first couple of days because they were afraid of what people would do."

"So you're staying to talk to them about it," John guessed.

"You're not seriously thinking of spending the night here in this village, are you?" McKay demanded in disbelief. "Do you WANT to die?"

"She can't feed, Rodney; she's harmless!"

"Would you bet your life on that?"

"Until I know otherwise, yes." Carson was always trusting everyone, right up to the very end. It was one of the things they admired most about him, and what made him a good doctor. But it was also dangerous.

They found Qadir and Nali, outside the tavern talking in low voices. They looked up when they heard them coming.

Elizabeth let Beckett do the talkng, and took a moment to study them both. They were both around twenty, and they were both very attractive. She remembered Qadir from her last trip there; messy brown hair, light eyes, fair skin. She had a sudden image in her head of young girls swooning over him, and she supressed a smile.

She didn't know Nali very well. She'd met the girl once; there had been a ceremony where several young people had been chosen as the village guard. But Elizabeth had not realized then how stunning the girl was. Like Qadir she had dark brown hair and fair skin; but her eyes were dark, midnight blue. They looked like they could hold all of the galaxy's stars, like mirrors of the night sky.

Coming out of her thoughts, she focused on the conversation. Both Nali and Qadir were denying finding Banht and hiding her for a few days. She could see McKay and Sheppard getting incredibly frustrated, and she understood them. They didn't trust Banht like Beckett or even she did, they'd made that much clear. But they knew that they had to find out what had happened so that they could go home.

"You must have hidden her somewhere, for at least a day," Beckett insisted. "Please just tell me. I promise that you won't get in any trouble." Qadir glanced uneasily at Nali.

"Maybe we should-"

"Qadir, no!"

"Go on, son," Beckett encouraged. Nali glared murder at her friend, but Qadir continued.

"We found her passed out in the woods one night," he explained. "If we hadn't seen that she couldn't feed, I would have killed her. But we did hide her for a day, until she woke up. The whole time her body was slowly healing itself." Carson smiled.

"Thank you, son. You've been very helpful."


	3. Faceless Reflections

**Chapter Two**

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When Carson's test results came back later that night, he shared them with Banht immediately.

"You're perfectly healed," he told her. "You have no internal injuries, and no infection."

"But...?" she guessed. He sighed.

"But there is a large part of the memory center of your brain that's simply... disconnected."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for whatever reason, all those memories have been... repressed; they're dormant. They're still in your head, but you cant access them."

"Is there any way you can get them back?"

"Possibly. But there's a chance that it won't work; and even if it does I'm not sure that you'll like what you see."

"Do you know who I was?"

"No," Carson answered truthfully. Banht's eyes shifted as she thought of something else.

"Do you think I hurt people?" sadly, Beckett nodded.

"Aye, love. I'm afraid I'm almost certain you did." Banht started to cry, horrified at the thought of hurting anyone. Beckett hugged her and comforted her, and was secretly amazed that he had to be comforting a wraith queen. But Banht was absolute proof that the wraith were not born evil, but taught to be so.

"It's alright, love," he murmured. "I know you're not evil now. it's not your fault if you were before; you were forced to be that way." they sat like that for a long time; and Banht felt totally and completely safe. Dr. Beckett was the nicest person she had ever met.

That night, the dreams started.

At first, Banht didn't realize that she was dreaming. She was on the path that led from the stream to the village, looking for Qadir. Suddenly, Sheppard stepped out of the trees before her.

"Banht, where are you going?" he asked, coming closer. Banht shrank away, that terrible sensation coming from nowhere and making her skin crawl Suddenly, she heard laughter behind her. She jerked around and saw someone in the shadows, laughing at her.

"Who are you?" she asked, her head in her hands. "Go away!" but whoever it was just kept laughing.

"Get out of here, wraith!" the figure said, stepping into the sunlight. Banht gasped. The woman had no face!

"Welcome, sister!" another voice cackled from out of sight. Banht couldn't take it anymore. She forced herself to wake up; to see her plain ceiling instead of a canopy of trees.

She tried to calm her breathing, to relax herself; but she couldn't fall back asleep. Her mind was spinning out of control as she tried to make sense of the dream. She didn't know why Sheppard had been there; she decided that it was because she associated the sensation with meeting him. He reeked of it; but she knew it didn't come from him. But then there was the other person, the faceless figure who'd laughed at her and called her wraith. Whoever that person was, she was the sensation. It wasn't just on her, she was made of it. Everyting she felt, everything she forgot. It had all happened because of that faceless figure in her dream. But what had the voice been?

Eventually, she was too tired to keep thinking, aand she drifted into an uneasy doze, filled with faceless villians and frightening screans. And the sensation that she'd come loath didn't go away, but clung to her like the scent of smoke.

When she woke up again, it was morning.

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Banht left her room and met Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Befckett, just coming out of the inn. Rodney and Elizabeth had not stayed the night, but Carson had insisted on staying, so John had insisted on staying too.

They greeted Banht with a lack of energy that made her reconsider them. They both looked tired, like they hadn't slept. Actually, they looked kind of like she felt.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked Dr. Beckett, feeling mostly comfortable with him, and especially more then she did with John. Carson smiled at her.

"I'm afraid it could have been better. I had some very... disturbing dreams."

"Me too," Sheppard admitted. "Actually, Banht, you were in my dream. I was talking to you when this girl came out of nowhere and told you to go away." Banht's mouth went dry.

"What did she look like?" he shrugged.

"I don't know; she didn't have a face." he frowned at her. "Why, do you know something I don't know?"

"That was my dream last night," she said softly. The two were immediately interested.

"The same dream?"

"Yes. Except here was another voice at the end, and that awful feeling..." she trailed off and Carson looked at Sheppard.

"Did you experiance any of that?" he asked. John shrugged.

"I heard the voice, yeah. But I didn't have any weird feelings; it was just a nightmare." he turned to Banht. "What kind of feeling are you talking about, anyways?" she tried to explain it to him, but she couldn't seem to find the right words. She finally stopped, embarrassed. But Beckett rubbed her shoulder reassuringly.

"It's alright, love. You tried." They'd walked to the edge of the village, and now Sheppard and Beckett stepped onto the gate path.

"Aren't you going to stay?" Banht asked nervously.

"I have to go home, love; analyze your test results. I'll be back tonight, don't worry." Banht was worried; he was the only one who could help who could help her find out who she was. and she was afraid if he left then he wouldn't come back, and she'd never know. But she stood there and watched them go, and had some relief from that frightening sensation that was constatnly pressing on her now. She watched until they disappeared from sight.

------------

"John, Carson, welcome back," Elizabeth greeted them as the gate shut down behind them. "How did things go?"

"It appears that I'm sahring dreams with a wraith queen now," Sgeppard grumbled. "And the good Doctor here feels bad for HER, and offered to go back to Emeron tonight." Elizabeth turned to him.

"Carson?"

"I'm going to analyze her test results, and give her some more information about what's going on with her. "And I'm going to try to find out what that sensation she's been experiancing is. And the cause of the dream she and the Colonel shared." They headed towards his lab.

"Any clues on either?" Elizabeth asked.

"It's possible she's able to project her dreams onto others, like the queen who was holding Ronon captive a few weeks ago."

"Susan," Sheppard remembered. "Do you think that all queens can do that?" Carson shrugged.

"It's a good bet that most can." he said.

"What about that feeling we give her?"

"At first I thought it might have had something to do with the ancient gene; since she felt it so strongly on you."

"But?" John encouraged him to continue.

"But she felt it on all of us, including Elizabeth. And she felt it on the world she woke up on."

"Where as if it was the gene she'd feel it least on McKay and not at all on Elizabeth, and probably not off-world."

"Aye; but she felt it less on me than she did on Elizabeth."

"Okay, so it's not the gene."

"I want to test it anyways," Beckett said. "Just to be sure. I want Major Lorne and Dr. Kusanagi to come back with me, just to see how she feels."

"Alright," Elizabeth agreed, "Anything on how she got the way she is?" Beckett shook his head.

"I can only assume that her hive mutinied her and thought that they killed her; and dumped her body off-world. She must have repressed all her memories up to that point when she woke up."

"How do you know they're repressed? John asked.

"Her brain scan showed that all her memory centers are mostly dormant. But the memories are still there."

"But how-"

"Would you please go off and find something to do that is not in my way?" the doctor begged, having no idea how much he sounded like Rodney. "It would make things much easier for me." Sheppard frowned.

"I'm comin' back with you tonight," he muttered, before leaving. Elizabeth smiled as she watched him go.

"I should leave you to your work as well," she said.

"Thank you," Carson said, and promised to call her if he found anything more.

------------

That night, Carson returned with Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne, and one of the Major's team-members who had the gene. McKay had needed Kusanagi for something; and he hadn't really fancied the idea that one of "his" scientists might get eaten by a skitzephrenic wraith, besides. No amount of talking could convince him that Banht couldnt suddenly develope feeders and suck the life out of them all.

Banht was both excited and upset to see them. She was glad that Dr. Beckett was back, but the two soldiers with him seemed to share Colonel Sheppard's nervous attitude around her.

"This is Major Evan Lorne," Carson introduced them, "and Lieutenent Peter Meyers." he motioned to the two of them to come forward, and carefully studied Banht's reaction to each of them. They both had the gene, but only Peter seemed to bother her. Carson found that interesting, and began to wonder if Peter had done something the same as Sheppard and different than Lorne; if it was an action that caused the sensation. He remembered that Peter had been woking with Sheppard's team for a while right after they got Ronon back.

They spent the night more or less the same as the night before, and Banht was restless. THis tine, she couldn't sleep. Frustrated, she finally threw off her blanket and went to the door, hoping that maybe some fresh air would help her relax. She opened the door and screamed. On the other side was the faceless woman.

"Ah!" she jerked awake from her dream, this time ready to cry. Why was this happening to her?

------------

"That was a bad night," Lorne muttered to Sheppard the next morning. "Could hardly sleep. It's weird being friends with a wraith who still looks like one."

"It's not that much different than Michael."

"Yes it is. Meyers kept waking up screaming."

"What?" Peter Meyers was one of the hardest people to scare that Sheppard knew.

"Said he kept dreamin' about Banht as a queen, hurting people and stuff. He's talking to the doc now."

"Yeah, so's Banht. She had another bad night, too."

"Is Doc gonna finish here today?" Lorne asked. "This is just creepy; I think she'd be better off if we just left."

"He wants to help her," John shrugged. "And it's a great opportunity to study the wraith; specifically queens."

"And since she's willing..."

"Elizabeth gave him the go-ahead to stat as long as he needs to."

"Maybe when Ronon and Teyla get back in a couple of days they can take over guard duty?" the Major asked. "No offense or anything, but they'd probably handle it better than my guys."

"I'd be a little worried about having Banht and Ronon on the same planet. Teyla too, even; they've had a heck of a lot more trouble with the wraith than any if us; I can't even imagine." but even as he said it, phantom pains from being fed on flared in his chest. he mentally shuddered at the memory.

"Speaking of that, wasn't there some kind of trouble with dreams and a queen a couple of weeks ago, too?"

"Yeah, when Ronon was missing."

"Do you think that has anything to do with our dream problems? Like, even though Banht doesn't remember she's a wraith, she's still projecting her nconscious memories on us in dreams?"

"Beckett was wondering about something like that; you'll have to ask him. Wraith mental abilities aren't exactly something that I've studied, beyond watching Teyla do her Jedi thing."

"I guess that if there was something, then Carson would already have thought of it, anyways."

"Probably, Sheppard agreed. He changed the subject. "I guess we might as well go find them, see if Carson's figured out anything new."

------------

"Arg!" Rodnet groaned, staring angrily at the cube in his hands. He wondered if it had been created by some evil genius purely to torture him. He was half convinced of the idea when Elizabeth came in.

"What are you working on?" she asked. She smiled when she saw the object that Rodney held in his hands.

"I can't seem to get it," he grumbled.

"I hardly think that a rubik's cube is the best outlet of your skills," she said. He sighed and put it aside on his already cluttered desk.

"My sister bet me I couldn't do it," he admitted. "But I will. "It's not as if I'm not smart enough to..."

"No, of course not," she assured him. "I'm sure that you'll figure it out. But don'tyou have other work to do?"

"Actually, I don't. I mean, I could study a couple of devices more closely, but they're really Radek's job and you know how pigheaded he is when anyone offers to help." she hid another smile, realizing that Rodney's description was much more accurate of himself than Radek.

"Why aren't you over on Emeron with Colonel Sheppard?" she asked instead, switching his focus.

"Banht creeps me out," he said bluntly. "The thought of those people living with--- being friends with--- a wraith queen if a little disturbing, no matter if she knows what she is or not."

"Even one who can't feed?"

"You see, I don't buy that. I think that if she remembers, then she could."

"But she eats like a normal person."

"Yes, but she's been there all of a week and a half. She might just not be feeling it yet."

"I don't know; Carson seems to trust her; and I trust him."

"And with most things I would agree with you. But not with this."

"Baka trusts her," Elizabeth remided him. "And he's nearly as smart as you."

"Yeah, but he'd never met a wraith queen before." Elizabeth sighed. She could see that there would be no convincing him; at least not today.

"Well we're due for a status report from them in a couple of hours; but right now its lunch time."

"You go ahead; I'll come down once I figure out this cube," he twisted it a few times.

"I heard that the Daedelus just brought in a shipmentof blue jello..." Rodney was on his feet in an instant.

"Why are we still standing around here for?" he demanded. "Lets go!"

------------

Carson had listened to Lorne and Sheppard's theory that Banht was unconsciouly projecting memories onto them while they slept and that all queens had the power to manipulate their dreams. The doctor believed that is was quite possible; considering what the mere presence of a wraith had done to Teyla almost two years ago, right before the siege; as well as their more recent experiances with the seekers and one of thier queens. But he couldn't tell Banht all of it. She still didn't understand why people referred to her as wraith; she assumed that she was like them, except she had forgotten. She knew about the wraith,; but she was sure that she wasn't like them. So Carson had to choose his words carefully when he explained.

"We have a friend," he said, "who has had experiances much the same as yours. She had terrible dreams; but we later discovered that the cause was something bad that she sensed.

"Like the feeling on you?" he nodded, smiling sadly.

"Aye, probably very much like that."

"Will it stop if you leave?" Banht questioned. "Because I don't want you to; you're my friend even more than anyone here."

"Why's that, love?"

"Because you're not afraid of me. Everyone here is at least a little, whether they admit it or not. It makes them nervous not to know who I am ot where I came from or what I used to be. But you don't care."

"Whatever you were, you're a lovely woman now; before does not matter." he wasn't sure when he'd stopped thinking of her as a wraith and started to think of her as a woman, but he did. Banht wasn't a monster, no matter if she was a wraith or not. It reminded him of Michael, and the pain of that mistake flared. When he hadn't known, he'd been one of the sweetest, gentlest men that he'd ever met. But once he knew he'd turned bitter, and vengful. He couldn't help but wonder how things could have turned out differently, if they'd told him at the start, or if he'd never known.

He came out of his thoughts to see Banht studying at him quizzically. He forced what he hoped was a convincing smile onto his face.

"Sorry, love. I just thought of something that happened a while back; it caught me off-guard."

"Oh," she answered softly. "Was it something sad? You looked upset." Beckett nodded.

"Aye, it was something sad. But it's alright now; the past is behind us." Banht stood up.

"I think I should go for now," she said as his emotion rubbed off on her and a sudden wave of sadness overtook her. "You have to check in with Dr. Weir, anyways."

"Alright, love. But if you want to talk more, I'll try to help you figure out as much as possible."

"Thank you," her voice caught in her throat, and she left quickly before Carson could see that she was upset. He didn't need to be sad anymore.

Walking throught the trees towards the stream that Qadir and Nali had told her she'd been found by, Banht considered all that had happened to her since she'd come to Emeron. She'd healed of her wounds; inexplicably fast, she was told. She'd made friends with many of the people here, and with Dr. Beckett. She'd felt that odd sensation that scared her so much all over people, not on a dialing device. She felt like she'd lived a lot in that short time. And how much more must have happened in the years that were burried somewhere in her mind?

She reached the stream, and walked beside it for a while, enjoying the pleasant sound of the water rippling over rocks. It was calming, peaceful; and she decided that this was her favorite place she'd been on Emeron.

Eventually, she'd realized that the walking, and the sound of the water had made her thristy. She knelt beside the stream and dipped her hands in the water, making a cup. She raised her hands to her lips and drank deeply from them. When her thirst was satisfied she didn't rise, but stayed where she was, feeling totally relaxed. She trailed her hand in the water, watching as the ripples distorted her reflection. Then she frowned. There was something wrong with her face. She dried her hand and waited for the water to calm down. Her eyes widened in horror as she stared at her reflection.

Her skin was pale and sickly looking. Her eyes were yellow and slitted like a predators. And there were two slits in her cheeks on either side of her nose. Was this what she looked like? Why hadn't anyone told her?

She got up and went back to the village, her mind reeling as she tried to make sense of what she had seen compared to everything that they'd told her.

The first person that she met was Dr. Beckett, who was just returning from the gate and checking in with Weir. She decided to unleash her torrents of anger and hurt and betrayal on him.

"Why didn't ou tell me what I am; what I'm not human like the rest of you and that's why they're all afraid of me?!"

"Banht-" Carson tried.

"Colonel Sheppard was right, wasn't he? I am a wraith."

"Banht, just listen to me-"

"I really am evil," she fled his presence. Carson sighed. He hadn't realized that she didn't know that she looked different; her hands were so pale, she must have seen it. But she'd seen only what she'd wanted, and tried desperately to believe it. He felt sorry for her; and he could only hope that the situation wouldn't turn out like Michael's. At least they had nothing to do with what had happened to Banht. They weren't responsible for this.

Banht avoided everyone for the rest of the day.

The next morning, Carson finally caught up with her, heading towards the stream again. He didn't say anything, just walked with her. She let him, but she didn't look at him, seeming embarrassed. Carson finally broke the silence.

"Any more dreams?" Banht shook her head.

"No. I didn't sleep last night."

"Why?"

"How can I sleep when I know what I am?" he made her stop, and put his hands on her shoulders and made her look at him.

"Bant, I need you to listen carefully to me. You are not like them."

"But I must have done so many terrible, terrible things that I can't make up for. I'm ashamed of what I am-"

"Banht, do you know why I don't call you a wraith, or think of you as one?" she shook her head, seeming surprised.

"No."

"Because I don't see you for what you were or what you did; I see you for what you are; and that is a smart, kind, caring, beautiful woman." Banht's eyes softened.

"You think that I'm beautiful?" she asked, the reflection of her face surfacing in her mind. SHe felt ugly. But Beckett nodded.

"Yes, I do. Inside and out. And whatever might have been before doesn't change what you are now. And you are not evil." awkwardly, Banht wrapped her arms around him, so that he couldn't see her tears.

"Thank you," she whispered. Carson smiled, but he didn't reply; he didn't need to. And there was nothing else that he could say.


	4. The Picnic

_Author's Note: Okay, this is where we finally get connected to Ronon and Teyla; and hopefully things will start to make sense with "Forever Running" from this point on. Enjoy!_

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**Chapter Three**

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Ronon grunted as he lifted the last beam into place. The Teranians rushed around to secure it, and finally Ronon was able to take a break. He stripped his shirt off and rubbed the sweat off his face. The past week on New Terinus had been good; they'd built a good deal of the settlement, and he'd even had a couple of nights to hunt on his own. What he had thought would be a chore had actually turned out quite satisfying... except for the heat. It was particularly bad that day; so bad that the Teranians had decided that this beam was their last, for at least the next few hours.

Ronon was just about to go off in search of a drink when he heard soft footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Teyla standing there. His face broke into a grin.

"Teyla, what are you doing here? I thought that you were trading." She returned his smile.

"I concluded my business this morning, and I thought I'd surprise you."

"It worked," he resisted the urge to jump up and hug her as hard as he could; he doubted that she would appreciate it, and the last thing that he wanted to do was freak her out.

"How have things been going at the settlement?" she questioned, sitting down beside him.

"Quicker than we expected until this heat." Now that she was sitting so close to him, he could see that she looked tired; her face was a little pale and there were dark rings under her eyes.

"How did everything go for you?" he asked, worry starting to creep into his voice.

"I have not slept well these past few nights," she confessed. "But the talks themselves were not a problem."

"That's good," he said; and there seemed nothing more to day. They sat together for a few minutes of comfortable silence in the relative shade of an old tree. It seemed safe and familiar and _right _to be there together. Finally, Ronon broke the silence.

"I was gonna go find some lunch. You wanna...?" she smiled.

"I have enough for the both of us," she said, lifting a bag that she'd dropped behind them when she sat down. Ronon grinned.

"Planned this ahead of time, did you?" he teased. "Did you cook, too? Because I value my life..."

"I know that you will eat anything," she returned, shoving the bag into his arms. "But I am not merciless." He made a face, but his smile soon fought its way back out.

"Come on, there's something that I want to show you." A little confused, she followed him as he led her away from the settlement and up towards the hill that it was nestled against. They entered the bright forest that grew on it, and soon Teyla began to feel the incline as they walked.

"Where are we going?" she questioned eventually.

"A place that I found when I was hunting," he explained. "We're almost there." For the next couple of minutes he made her close her eyes, and took her hand and led her there. Finally they stopped.

"Okay, you can look now." She opened her eyes and gazed around her. Half of the trees were green and gold, and the rest were flowering and smelled absolutely intoxicating. She turned to Ronon.

"It's beautiful." His grin widened.

"This is only half," he turned her around, and she gasped, speechless. The incline had been more than she had thought, and the hill that they'd climbed overlooked the entire settlement, all the way to the gate.

"Nice, isn't it?" Teyla couldn't help but laugh at the simplicity of the statement. With all of the beauty spread out before them, he had only three words to describe it.

She noticed her friends amused smile.

"What?"

"Your laugh, I like it. You don't laugh enough." she blushed, and unsure what to say, they just stared at each other. Then they both laughed, and decided to forget about it.

"Lets eat." They sat down on the grass looking towards the valley, and shared the exceptionally good meal that Teyla had brought. They talked lightly about nothing in particular, simply glad to be together. Ronon found himself once again for Teyla being Teyla. The awkward moments were odd, but when they were done they were done, and she moved on as if they had never happened. She smoothed over his clumsy attempts to express his feeling; allowing him to try, but always rescuing him from himself when necessary. As always, he thanked the ancestors for sending her to him, to keep him in line and teach him just by being herself; by simply _being_.

Teyla loved spending this time with Ronon. After his capture a few weeks ago, she'd realized how much that her team generally, and him specifically, meant to her. She'd made it a point since then to be with them as much as she could when they were off-duty, the recent events reminding her of how easy it would be to lose them; and she wanted no regrets.

Of all of them, she most enjoyed the moments that she spent like this with Ronon. He made her feel comfortable and peaceful and safe in a way that she hadn't since she'd lost her father. And it was moments like this that allowed her to keep her sanity through all of the craziness that they faced every day. After that taste of losing him earlier that month, she was all the more convinced that she could no longer have a life without him in it. She needed him, to know that he was safe and that he would keep her safe too. But deep down she suspected that he wouldn't stay forever. Once day he would leave, and there would be nothing that she could do about it. She dreaded that day.

"So is this it for you?" Ronon asked after they'd finished eating. "Were you coming for lunch and then to the city, or do you have something else to do first?"

"I have nothing more to do," she said. "You?"

"The Teranians said that I could leave today as long as we got at least all the beams up. And we just finished the last one before you got here."

"So will you come back with me?"

"Have I ever said no?" she grinned.

"We had better get your things," she said. "I can only imagine what Rodney would say if he found out that we did not spend these last few hours working..."

"...like he has; the man is clearly a saint." They both laughed, and returned to the settlement.

------------

_A/N: Okay, this one is really short; but it's the calm before the storm, you could say. The rest of the story after this is going to get pretty serious, and the next part really doesn't belong in this chapter. Also, from here on I am completely re-writing and merging what I thought would be a sequel to this with the end of this (because on it's own the sequel was pretty terrible). Anyways, with any luck the next chapter SHOULD be longer (cross your fingers ;) lol)._


	5. Fear

_Author's Note: This isn't as big as I though it would be; but it seems that I really split up the chapters badly in my first try at this. The big, climactic reveal is coming though, soon! ;) And seriously, read my fic "Forever Running" before you read any more of this. This was meant to be a sequel; and it WILL make sense soon!_

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**Chapter Four**

-----------

Still smiling and teasing each other, Ronon and Teyla stepped through the gate onto Atlantis. They were greeted by Elizabeth, who couldn't resist teasing them about their lunch together.

"You didn't try to poison him, did you Teyla?"

"He is not the one whose life you should be concerned with," she returned with mock severity.

"Alright, fine. You can probably cook better than me anyways..." they fell in step and mounted the stairs.

"I'm sorry that I have to send you two back out again so soon," Elizabeth apologized. "But there's been an... interesting situation on Emeron."

"What do you mean by "interesting"?"

"It means that Carson adopted a pet wraith," McKay said, hiking up the stairs after them "She's a queen, but she doesn't remember anything." Ronon and Teyla both turned to Elizabeth.

"Is he telling the truth?" Ronon demanded.

"In a twisted, accusative way, yes." Teyla laughed to herself, though it was clear that she thought the situation anything but funny.

"A queen? How could you let him do that?"

"She doesn't feed-"

"I don't care! You remember what happened with Ellia and Michael."

"You don't understand; she _can't _feed. She doesn't have feeders on her hands. I've met her, trust me. She is actually really, really sweet."

"I don't suppose that anyone wants my opinion," Rodney grumped. They ignored him.

"I just want you two to go and keep an eye on things. If there's anything wrong with her you'll be able to sense it. But unless that happens treat her like you treated Ellia."

"Never liked her," Ronon mumbled.

"Then treat her like you would me."

"We shouldn't be trying to be her friend," he said. "No matter if she feeds or what she remembers, she's dangerous."

"Tell me that after you've met her."

"Just go along and pretend," McKay said. "At the end of it you'll either make her reveal it if she's lying and she'll turn on you, or you'll see that you're wrong. "

"I'm glad that you feel that way, Rodney," Elizabeth said. "Because I want you to go back with them; Baka has something that he wants to talk to you about."

------------

Elizabeth finally calmed Ronon and Teyla down and made them promise to be nice to Banht when they met her. Reluctantly, their pleasant day ruined, they went with McKay through the gate to Emeron.

When they reached the villiage, Nali was waiting for them.

"Dr. Beckett and Colonel Sheppard are with Banht and Baka," she said, explaining where they were. "But Teyla, I need to talk to you for a minute." Unlike Elizabeth, Teyla had gotten to know Nali; she had come back to Emeron on several occasions--- they'd known them since before they'd met Ronon--- and she'd helped to train some of the watchers. She had taken a particular interest in Nali because she had a strong sense; she wasn't sure what it meant, since she was obviously not wraith or even Athosian, but she knew that there was something special about her, in the fact that she could be sensed at all.

"I sense no danger here yet," Teyla said to Ronon. "Go, I'll be right there."

"May not have to bother," he said, patting his gun meaningfully as he and McKay left.

"Hey, you promised Elizabeth you'd play nice, remember?" she heard the scientist remind him.

"Is something wrong?" Teyla asked Nali, taking her attention away from her team-mates. The girl shifted uneasily.

"I think that you should go home," she said. If anyone else had said that to her Teyla would have felt hurt, but this was Nali; and her tone and body language clearly indicated that she had a good reason to ask that of her.

"Why do you want me to go?" she questioned. Nali shook her head.

"I just think you should."

"Nali, you can tell me."

"I don't know what it is; but I feel like if you see Banht something bad is going to happen. I don't know WHY I feel that way..."

"No, no; it is good that you told me." But she was torn. She trusted Nali, and what she sensed was probably accurate. But on the other hand she'd defied Elizabeth too often recently, and she was not eager to do it again.

"Will anyone get hurt?" she asked. Nali shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know." Teyla was about to reply when her radio crackled to life with Ronon's voice.

"Teyla, get down here."

"I do not think that I should-"

"You need to see this." There was genuine worry in his voice that hinted at fear.

"What's done is done," Nali said sadly. "Go." Teyla left in search of her friends, leaving Nali alone, head hanging.

-----------

Sheppard and Carson and Baka had been with Banht all morning, trying to help her understand herself after her realization that she had been a wraith. John was encouraged by the fact that she'd taken the realization so much better than Michael. The circumstances were completely different, but it had to be a scary realization either way. But Banht seemed to be handling it very well.

She was deep in some question to Beckett when her pain started. She suddenly doubled over with a sharp cry, her head in her hands.

"What is it?" Carson and Baka were immediately at her side, trying to figure out what was going on.

"The feeling was just starting to fade from you," Banht managed to explain to Carson. "But now it's here, on Emeron."

"It's alright, love," Carson soothed her gently. "It'll pass." After a moment, Banht straightened.

"It is still there," she admitted. "But it's better now." A few minutes later, Ronon and McKay showed up.

Ronon's eyes widened as he stared at the scene before him. Sheppard was standing there, with Carson and Baka and the wraith queen that they'd befriended for whatever reason. That in itself did not surprise him; he'd know that much. But it was this wraith in particular that had him shocked. He turned on his radio.

"Teyla, get down here."

"I don't think I-"

"You _need _to see this," he heard her resigned sigh.

"I'm coming." She sounded far more upset then she had before, and that worried him quite a bit. She had no idea what he had to show her.

Afraid to go closer alone, Rodney pulled him down towards the others, and introduced him to Banht. She stiffened visibly when he came closer, but not from recognition. As a matter of fact, she was just as advertised; sweet, with no feeders on her palms. He didn't know quite what that meant; but it was enough to make him question himself, which meant that Banht was doing something right.

He shook away those thoughs, suspicious again. Unlike the rest of them he knew who and what she was; and she was dangerous.

It was difficult to stand there beside the queen who had almost killed him and pretend that he could care less. But after several minutes he finally started to believe that she really didn't remember anything. Then, Teyla appeared, and everything fell apart.

------------

_A/N: Okay, sorry. But I'm having some trouble weaving the necessary bits of two stories together to make the proper ending for this fic (and everything from this point leading up to it). Sorry for my lack of skills! I will try to finish it as soon as possible! ;)_


	6. Revealed

_Author's Note: Okay, I think that this is going to be the shortest chapter yet; but it will be full of the beginnings of answers to all of the questions that I tried to set up about Banht. Please review!_

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**Chapter Five**

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Teyla saw Banht and froze, recognizing her as the queen of the hive that they'd so recently rescued Ronon from. The one that she'd thought she killed.

Banht saw Teyla and immediately knew that she was the root of the terrible sensation that she'd been feeling; her sense had clung to all those that the woman had come in contact with. Memories flooded through Banht's mind, of being beaten by her seekers when she didn't know them anymore, of lying on the floor in agony as her mind was squeezed and pummelled by one who could match her in strength; feeling like the woman was trying to squeeze the life out of her. And the faceless figure from her dreams suddenly had form. SHE was the one who had done this to her.

"You!" she screamed, holding her head in her hands as further memories awakened. "You did this to me!" Teyla didn't answer.

"What are you talking about, love?" Beckett asked.

"She's what I've been feeling on you; it was all her echoes. She almost killed me, she shut down all my memories. It made my seekers hate me; they tried to kill me too. And then they abandoned me."

"Teyla did that?" Baka asked in disbelief.

"She tried feedin' on her in a dream," Sheppard explained. "And then we had to rescue Ronon from her, too. But I never saw her; only Teyla and Ronon did." Banht was groaning and shrieking, the wraith qualities returning to her voice. No one knew what to do or how to stop her. Teyla seemed to be concentrating, trying to get into Banht's mind; but it wasn't working. With a cry that made their ears bleed her wraith side overtook her, her memories of her days in power--- ruling and being feared--- driving themselves into the core of her being and shutting the Banht that they had come to know deep within herself.

She looked at her hands and found that her feeders had regrown or reopened, or reversed whatever Teyla had done to her. But their Banht had enough strength left to push once more to dominate her wraith half.

"I really was evil," her frightened voiceuttered before it was completely swallowed up by the dark presence of the wraith that had consumed her.

"Bant, please no!" Baka begged. "You are not evil; I know you. This isn't what you want-" she struck him, flinging him aside and into a tree as if he were no more than a doll. Then she ran.

"What are you thinking?" Ronon demanded of Carson as everyone rushed over to Baka. "Do you know what you've done?!"

"I know her, lad. I think I can make her stop."

"Haven't you learned anything? It doesn't work that way; every time you've tried to change the wraith before, you've failed! How many more good people are going to have to die before you give it up?"

"Don't hurt her," Baka's coughed out words drew everyone's attention. "She's just... a child." He pushed Carson away. "Go. Find her and help her; there is nothing you can do for me. But it isn't fair that both of us should die." Sheppard walked a few paces away to radio Lorne, and informed him of the situation. He replied that he would be right there.

"Don't talk like that!" McKay chided Baka again. "You're not gonna die; you still have plenty of time left."

"Dr. McKay is right; we will help you," Teyla said.

"Oh, Teyla, child of the stars; you need to learn to let go. But now go undo what you have done to her," he looked at McKay again. "Rodney, there are some things that I would like your help with, before I am gone."

Lorne arrived.

"What's the situation?"

"Banht just rediscovered her wraith self--- she's the same one that had Ronon captured last month--- and she's on the loose. Stay with McKay and Baka till we get back And if Banht comes back, stun her; if anyone deserves to kill her, it's Ronon." He turned to Ronon and Teyla and Beckett. "Let's go."

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_A/N: I know it's really short, and I do apologize; please don't hurt me! The next chapter will be longer, and I'll finish explaining about Banht and why she survived. Seriously though, if you don't understand any of this, go and read the fic that this is a sequel to; Forever Running. You'll understand it so much better!_


	7. Hunting

_Author's Note: Haha, see? I promised that it would be longer! LOL :)_

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**Chapter Six**

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The queen felt exhilarated. To be herself again, to feel that power coursing through her; it was incredible! But the hunger that was burning and growing inside of her screamed to be abated. And then there was the matter of Banht. She had stopped thinking of herself by that name as soon as her wraith half had taken over. What Teyla had not realized when she had tried to kill her on the hive was that in turning off her wraith half and almost destroying it, she had created an entirely new consciousness in Banht. Now the two minds were warring withing her, fighting for dominance. And her wraith half was wining.

She was desperately hungry, craving human life more than she remembered ever needed it, except maybe her very first feeding. She didn't want to go back to the village; these people were to weak for her taste. But the visitors... now they were another matter. She spoke to the other mind--- Banht's mind--- inside of her.

"Which one first, do you think? The runner or the listener? Or perhaps the healer..."

"No!" Banht screamed. The queen grinned as she continued to torment this created half, this too-human part of her.

"Perhaps I will take the village anyways; with the strength that I would gain from them all my seekers would never dare to defy me again." She reached out, trying to sense the listener; the one who had caused all of this. She was going to be the first to die, and wherever she was friends would not be far behind. But she could no longer feel her; somehow, she was hiding herself. Well, in the end it didn't matter. If the girl didn't come, the others would. The runner would want to kill her, and the doctor would want to help her. Oh, yes; she'd get her fill.

------------

Rodney tried in vain to convince Baka that he would be okay. But even dying the old man seemed at peace.

"You know that it would happen, my friend. What is important now is that I put things back in order, and pass my title on. And that I say my goodbyes." Now Rodney was very worried. This man had treated him more like a father than his own father had; and now he was watching him die, and no science in the world could save him.

"Do you want to go back to the village? We'll help you." Baka smiled.

"Yes, I would like that. But there is something important that I to talk to you about first. There's something that I need you to help me do."

------------

With Ronon's time-perfected tracking skills, they didn't need to use Teyla's wraith sense; so she concentrated on making herself invisible to Banht. Strange, that she thought of the wraith as Banht at all; but she did. She realized that it was because she _did _see Banht; when she had changed, Teyla had sensed her dual personality; her two separate minds existing in the same body. But she knew which half was in control, so it still made little sense.

Ronon was tracking the queen with a single-minded purpose; to kill. She had almost killed them, all of them but Beckett had been effected by her dreams and illusions. And she had physically almost killed Ronon himself... and she'd almost killed Teyla. If only for that reason, he was not going to allow her to live.

She'd turned out just like all of the other wraith that they'd tried to help; just like he'd said. But still they wouldn't listen to him. Well, this time he didn't care what they thought; he was going to make sure that the queen was destroyed once and for all; he couldn't stand the thought of her ever making Teyla bleed again.

John was confused. He saw every side of what was happening; and he had no idea what to do. He agreed with Ronon that the wraith _queen _should be killed; but after knowing Banht--- and knowing that she was born of Teyla's mind--- he couldn't simply write that part of her off as lost, assuming that she was still in there somewhere. And as for her minor transformations... well, his brush with the iratus virus had been much worse, and he completely understood the feeling of losing control. He wanted desperately to take a side in this, but everything was too unclear for him to know where he stood or what should be done; so he concentrated on the search, deciding to take the rest as it came.

Beckett's goal was the exact opposite of Ronon's--- which was to destroy the queen by whatever means necessary--- he wanted to save Banht. He had gotten to know her very well, better than the rest, and the sweet, innocent, and gentle mind that the queen's body harbored deserved to be saved, to be given a chance to live. He hoped that they could destroy the queen's mind--- completely this time--- but leave Banht's mind untouched. However, he was sure that Ronon was not going to go for such a delicate approach when he had the option of breaking her neck right there; so he was going to have to find a way to take that option away. He knew that it wasn't likely, but at least he could try.

"Teyla, what's she doing?" Ronon questioned suddenly. Her forehead creased in a frown of concentration as she stepped into the queen's mind--- carefully--- and saw through her eyes.

"She is just standing there," she said. "Waiting for us." She did not want to linger in her mind--- she was too shielded right now for her to break in again, anyways--- and she was about to detach herself when she felt the touch of another mind. She gasped.

"What?" Ronon asked quickly, his eyes darkening as his rage at the queen deepened.

"Banht it still in her."

"We already knew that," Sheppard said.

"No, it is not just that. She is asking for our help." At her words, Carson looked hopefully at Sheppard and Ronon, hoping that the news would cause at least a little hesitation. But there was none there; apparently, John had opted to take Ronon's side.

"She's a wraith," he said. "We can't take the risk of trying to save only half of her. It's all or nothing."

"No," Ronon said simply. Beckett decided not to even attempt to change his mind yet, and instead focused his efforts on Sheppard.

"Colonel, you know the poor girl; she must be scared silly-"

"She's not a girl, she's a wraith, Doc! It's too dangerous." But Carson couldn't just stand by and let them kill her without even giving Banht a chance. He stopped and blocked their path, hoping that the fact that he was their friend would keep them from simply throwing him aside.

"Banht is more human than most of us can ever hope to be. She is an innocent being, and she had no part in what happened to us before; and we cannot simply condemn her life for sharing the queen's body now." He looked at Teyla. "What you did to her before, the first time; can you do it again?"

"Maybe..." she seemed far from certain. "Would that not merely create a third mind?"

"What if you stamped out the queen's mind completely?" he tried to talk fast, seeing that Ronon was becoming restless. "Do you think that you can destroy the queen but not touch Banht's mind in the process?"

"I cannot be sure; Carson, there may not be anything that we can do for her." While Teyla could not fully find it in herself to condemn Banht, the doctor was asking her to take a very risky alternative that could kill them both or have no effect on the queen at all, which would mean that she would kill them anyways. And even if she could do what she had done the last time, the lack of control that she had had over herself--- the lack of awareness--- scared her; and she did not want to be in that place again.

"You just said that Banht is still in the queen's mind," Carson spoke so earnestly that she had to stop thinking and simply listen. "But she cannot control what the wraith half of her has done; and I am not going to let the three of you kill her for those actions."

"Look, I'll give you _one shot_ to change her back," John sighed. "If you can't or if she tries to kill us first, Ronon gets to shoot her."

"I suppose that this is the best offer that I'm going to get from you," Carson sighed. "Teyla, will you help me?" Very slowly, not daring to look at John or Ronon's faces, she nodded.

"I will do what I can," she said. "But I cannot promise you anything."

"I'm not asking for promises," he said. He turned his gaze towards Ronon, his case already made, now just sending him a silent plea with his eyes.

"You have no idea what you're asking me to do," he said. "And I can't let you. If I find her first, I'm shooting her. If you find her, she had better be dead or on the ground when I see her, or she'll be both." Without another word, he pushed past Beckett and ran, ignoring all of them as they tried to convince him to stay. But he was not going to let them talk him out of it this time; this time, she was going to die.

They had all called for Ronon, but none of them had made an effort to follow him more than a few steps; they knew that they couldn't stop him. But Teyla watched him sadly, suddenly afraid for him. She had never seen him ths way, except on Sateda; and his total lack of interest in controlling himself scared her. He had confided in her once that he never wanted to feel that way again, because he was sure that if he did come that close to losing it, he would hurt them; and he was sure that he would be too far gone to help. They had to find Banht first, to keep him from that breaking point.

"I can't believe that I'm letting you try to save the cause of a bunch of our problems," John muttered to Beckett, bringing Teyla out of her thoughts.

"It's the queen that's the cause," Carson corrected him. "Not Banht. The queen is the one who is going to die." He didn't add the last few words on his mind. _'If Teyla can get in before she kills her.'_

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_A/N: So lets see the damage I've caused... Baka is dying, the team is split up, Ronon's about half a second away from crazy, and Teyla is ready to risk her life to save Banht; doing the very thign that could make Ronon snap. Another fine mess that I've gotten them into. Keep reading!_


	8. Battle

_Author's Note: I am SO SORRY that this has taken so long! For some odd reason, this one little bit of the story refused to come to me; I don't know why, it was easy enough to write now. But for the past however long it's been, it just would NOT work! So I apologize, and hopefully things willgo more smoothly now that this chapter is finally finished. I hope you enjoy it! (and thank you for bearing with me!)_

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far :) Is it too much to hope for more? ;) lol_

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**Chapter Seven**

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They had continued on again, Teyla taking over leading with her sense of the queen, until they reached her. She was, as Teyla had said, simply standing in the middle of the ground, waiting. Teyla could now clearly feel the two distinct minds battling for dominance and control; and she knew that they had very little time left, if they wanted to save her.

"So you have come to try again." the queen stated, her harsh voice grated on their ears. She looked menacingly at Teyla. "Where is your runner friend, hm? Is he too much a coward to fight me again?"

"You are lucky that he has not found you and killed you already," Teyla sneered, any fear that she felt gone. Any doubt that the queen may have had that she was also "too much a coward" to try anything was banished by her tone. "As for myself, I will simply have to be sure that you are gone this time."

"If you are fool enough to try again, I will not let you live,"

"As I remember," Sheppard drawled, "Teyla did kick your butt pretty bad last time; that's why there's Banht now, too."

"Shut up!"

"Banht!" Beckett called, distracting her from Teyla as the Athosian closed her eyes, "I know you, Banht. And I know that you don't want this to be happening. You're not evil, Banht; but she is. You need to fight her! You _can't _let her win." Apparently Banht was listening, because the queen was clearly struggling; the feeders in her hands were flexing, growing and shrinking as her internal battle intensified.

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Ronon realized soon that he had missed the queen altogether; and that angered him. He was getting too lost in his rage to think clearly, and it had made him unable to track. He was going to have to go back and look for her.

As he searched, his mind unwillingly began to wander, and he started wondering what would happen if John and his team found the queen first. It shocked him to realize suddenly that he wasn't thinking of himself as a member of Sheppard's team anymore; and that scared him as much as thinking of what could be happening right now to his friends. He _had _to find the queen and take are of her; that was the only way that he could fix this.

With renewed passion he started to backtrack, hoping that his friends were alright.

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John watched in fascination as Teyla's mental battle with the wraith inside of Banht intensified even further. He knew that Banht was helping too; but she was still trapped and vulnerable. Most of the attack was still coming from Teyla, and the effect was terrifying. John was certain that he was going to have nightmares about this for a long time.

By his side, Carson continued to try to encourage Banht as she and Teyla fought with the wraith inside of her, helping the only way that she could. He knew that the young woman---he _refused _to call her a wraith---was stronger than any of them had initally given her credit for; and between her skills and Teyla's, he figured it should be just enough to tip the scale in their favor. At least, that was what he hoped. To an extent it seemed to be working, because the queen was straining even more heavily under the pressure of their minds. But she had a fierce, aline determination on her side, a need to survive that enabled her to keep from cracking.

"How long do you think they can keep it up?" Sheppard asked Carson in a worried whisper. The doctor shrugged.

"Knowing Teyla and Banht _and_ this queen, it could go on for hours."

Sheppard frowned.

"I hope not, for Banht's sake; we've got maybe three minutes at the most until Ronon gets here, and if that queen isn't dead by then, he's going to kill her _and _Banht and it won't matter anymore." Carson renewed his encouragements.

Banht was fighting as hard as she could with this monster within herself, and it hurt. Since she and the queen were sharing her body, and the queen was still controlling it, she was making it as hard as she could for Banht to fight her. Anything that Banht managed to do was with incredible effort, and it was only with Teyla's help and limited protection that she could keep on fighting.

Teyla pushed as hard as she could, wanting to free Banht for Carson's sake, but also for the woman's own innocence. Feeling the two minds inside that body, she _knew _that Baht had not done anything to anyone. There was _nothing _of the queen in Banht. And knowing that, Teyla couldn't let her die. But for their combined efforts, it was still not quite nough; there was one more layer, that final wall that hid the vulnerable part of the queen's mind. And Teyla knew the only way that she could break past it at that point. Taking a deep breath and throwing a glance at her friends, hopeing that they would somehow understand, she screamed.

The queen shrieked back at her, but as it had the first time, the double-blow of the scream had the desired effect, and she stumbled to her knees, disoriented for a few tiny seconds. But those seconds were all that Teyla needed to force through that final barrier and rip to shreds the mind of the queen who had hurt them all so bad.

"You wil... _die _for this!" the queen choked, before her life was snuffed out forever with one last, gurgling breath. As her control slipped away, her body fell to the ground.

Teyla carefully disconnected herself from Banht's startled mind, as Carson went over to kneel beside her and try to keep her from going into shock. She took a deep, shaking breath as she watched the doctor comfort Banht.

Suddenly, Ronon ran out of the trees, to find them all still living, and Banht on the ground, fulfilling his ulitimatum.

"They killed the queen," Sheppard told him, finding his voice again and talking just a little too loudly after listening to Teyla scream. "It's over." Ronon loooked from John to Carson and Banht to Teyla; then, without another word, he turned and stalked away again, disappearing once again into the forest.

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_A/N: Whew! I was actually sweating as I typed that up; getting a little bit too into my writing, I guess... But tell me what YOU think; leave me a review and let me know how I did with this :). To be continued... ;)_


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